Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna are a win away from guaranteeing India a silver medal at the Rio Olympics. To do that, though, they will need to beat the American pairing of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram in the semifinal of the mixed doubles tennis event of Rio 2016.
The Indians have done really well so far to get to the semifinals, beating Australia's Sam Stosur and John Peers in the first round, before seeing off the challenge of GB's Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the quarterfinals. Now, a couple more wins will give them that gold medal that India desperately need, but "let's take it one match at a time" will be the mantra for the experienced doubles players.
Against Murray and Watson, Sania and Bopanna barely put a foot wrong, taking control of proceedings and never really relinquishing it. Fatigue might have played a part for Murray, who is also taking part in the singles and was knocked out of the men's doubles earlier in the tournament, but Sania and Bopanna showed they have the makings of a really good doubles team.
That bodes well for India, because in Venus and Ram, they will run into stiff opposition. Venus will be desperate for some glory after failing to find her rhythm in the women's singles and doubles, and with Ram, the player of Indian origin, coming with plenty of experience as well, this could come down to who plays the big points better. The women's mixed doubles semifinal, though, is not the only big match on show for Saturday, with the women's final also set to take place, apart from the bronze medal match and the two men's semifinals.
The women's singles gold medal match will be played between Angelique Kerber of Germany and Puerto Rico's Monica Puig, with the former the clear favourite, having waltzed into the final with some terrific performances.
Kerber has more big match experience – she is the current Australian Open champion and also lost to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final – and that could prove to be the difference in the end. The women's bronze medal match will be played between Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Madison Keys of the USA.
Rafael Nadal, fresh off winning the men's doubles gold medal for Spain, and Andy Murray will feature in the two men's singles semifinals, with the two world superstars facing off against Juan Martin Del Potro and Kei Nishikori respectively.
Where to Watch Live
The mixed doubles semifinal involving the Indian pair is the third match on Court One. The first match is set to begin at 12 p.m. local time *8.30 p.m. IST, 4 p.m. BST). The women's final is scheduled to be played after the two men's semifinals on Centre Court.
India: TV: Star Sports and DD National. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: BBC. Live Streaming: BBCiPlayer.
Spain: TV: RTVE.
USA: TV: NBC. Live Streaming: NBC Sports live extra, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics app.
Australia: TV: Channel 7, 7Two and 7Mate. Live Streaming: Channel 7 online.
Brazil: TV: SporTV, Globo, Fox Sports and ESPN.
Puerto Rico: TV: NBC Universal.
Germany: TV: ARD, ZDF.
Argentina: TV: ESPN and TYC Sports.
Japan: TV: Japan Consortium.
